Business leaders who maintain that emotions are best kept out of the work environment do so at their organization's peril. Bestselling author Daniel Goleman's theories on emotional intelligence (EI) have radically altered common understanding of what "being smart" entails, and in Primal Leadership, he and his coauthors present the case for cultivating emotionally intelligent leaders. Since the actions of the leader apparently account for up to 70 percent of employees' perception of the climate of their organization, Goleman and his team emphasize the importance of developing what they term "resonant leadership." Focusing on the four domains of emotional intelligence--self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management--they explore what contributes to and detracts from resonant leadership, and how the development of these four EI competencies spawns different leadership styles. The best leaders maintain a style repertoire, switching easily between "visionary," "coaching," "affiliative," and "democratic," and making rare use of less effective "pace-setting" and "commanding" styles. The authors' discussion of these methods is informed by research on the workplace climates engendered by the leadership styles of more than 3,870 executives. Indeed, the experiences of leaders in a wide range of work environments lend real-life examples to much of the advice Goleman et al. offer, from developing the motivation to change and creating an improvement plan based on learning rather than performance outcomes, to experimenting with new behaviors and nurturing supportive relationships that encourage change and growth. The book's final section takes the personal process of developing resonant leadership and applies it to the entire organizational culture. --S. Ketchum --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
"The fundamental task of leaders... is to prime good feeling in those they lead. That occurs when a leader creates resonance a reservoir of positivity that unleashes the best in people. At its root, then, the primal job of leadership is emotional." So argue Goleman (Emotional Intelligence) and EI (emotional intelligence) experts Boyatzis and McKee. They use the word "primal" not only in its original sense, but also to stress that making employees feel good (i.e., inspired and empowered) is the job a leader should do first. To prove that the need to lead and to respond to leadership is innate, the authors cite numerous biological studies of how people learn and react to situations (e.g., an executive's use of innate self-awareness helps her to be open to criticism). And to demonstrate the importance of emotion to leadership, they note countless examples of different types of leaders in similar situations, and point out that the ones who get their employees emotionally engaged accomplish far more. Perhaps most intriguing is the brief appendix, where the authors compare the importance of IQ and EI in determining a leader's effectiveness. Their conclusion that EI is more important isn't surprising, but their reasoning is. Since one has to be fairly smart to be a senior manager, IQ among top managers doesn't vary widely. However, EI does. Thus, the authors argue, those managers with higher EI will be more successful. (Mar. 11)Forecast: Goleman already has a legion of fans from his early books on EI. His publisher is banking on his fame; the house has planned a $250,000 campaign and a 100,000 first printing.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.From Library Journal
Goleman (Emotional Intelligence) teams with Richard E. Boyatzis (Weatherhead Sch. of Management, Case Western Reserve) and Annie McKee (Management Development Services, North America, Hay Group) to focus on the relationship between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and successful leadership. The authors define EI as handling one's emotions well when dealing with others and go on to describe how EI makes good leaders. Throughout, the authors talk about leaders exhibiting "resonance," defined as bringing out the best in people by being positive about their emotions, and "dissonance," defined as bringing out the worst in people by undermining their emotions. The book is arranged in three sections, with the first section describing the characteristics of resonant and dissonant leadership as well as the four dimensions of EI, which are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. This section also describes the different types of leadership styles, such as visionary, coaching, and commanding. The second section outlines the steps one needs to take to become a more positive leader, and the third section discusses how to use these newfound skills to build a better organization. Real-life leadership stories are provided throughout. Recommended for public, corporate, and academic libraries. Stacey Marien, American Univ., Washington, DC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From AudioFile
Goleman's groundbreaking work on emotional intelligence is the basis for the audio's message: Leaders do best when they stay emotionally connected to the realities of their business and to their team's personal goals and needs. Vivid examples from the authors' consulting practice make the program move along quickly. These stories support insights that will be critical for complex organizations to survive the shortcomings of the command-and-control leadership culture. Going beyond academic thinking, the authors offer many suggestions on how to apply their ideas to various companies with different needs and internalized histories. Paced here for easy comprehension, the audio is a reminder that all team efforts are more effective when every person on the team is respected and guided with informed authority. T.W. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
From Booklist
"Great leaders move us, . . . ignite passion, and inspire the best in us"--so the authors offer as the premise of this provocative book. In and of itself, this assertion is hardly groundbreaking. The book distinguishes itself by departing from ho-hum leadership treatises to put forth a winning concept the authors call emotional intelligence, which is defined as the ability to handle our emotions and our relationships in a positive way. Goleman is a researcher and author of the best-selling Emotional Intelligence (1995); Richard Boyatzis is a professor of management; and the third coauthor, Annie McKee, is a graduate-level education instructor. Drawing on their own field observations as well as research into brain functioning and chemistry, the authors demonstrate the connection between emotional intelligence and leadership. Leaders, in their estimation, can and must drive their organizations by using positive emotions. Basically speaking, people want to work for those who exude upbeat feelings. Conversely, "the power of toxic leadership to poison the emotional climate of a workplace" is considerable. Well-written, intelligent, approachable, and stimulating business books have a way of sneaking onto best-seller lists. This one just might do exactly that. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Product Description
National Bestseller Available in Paperback
"Just as Goleman's first book redefined intelligence, his new treatise…reassesses what makes a great leader."
-Time magazine
"Daniel Goleman has done it again! …a fascinating account of how emotions are at the heart of effective leadership. This book is a gem."
--David Gergen, Director, Center for Public Leadership, John F. Kennedy School, Harvard University
Drawing from decades of research within world-class organizations, the authors show that great leaders-whether CEOs or managers, coaches or politicians-excel not just through skill and smarts, but by connecting with others using Emotional Intelligence competencies like empathy and self-awareness. The best leaders, they show, have "resonance"-a powerful ability to drive emotions in a positive direction to get results-and can fluidly interchange among a variety of leadership styles as the situation demands. Groundbreaking and timely, this book reveals the new requirements of successful leadership.
Book Info
Focusing on the four domains of emotional intelligence-self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management-they explore what contributes to and detracts from resonant leadership, and how the development of these four EI competencies spawns different leadership styles. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From the Author
By, Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee
We started to write a book about leadership, resonance and emotional intelligence. We ended up living it for the past two years with each other. The three of us have been studying emotional intelligence competencies and consulting with executives for decades on how to excel as leaders. As the ideas and experiences were brought together, we found an excitement that was contagious. It was fun. And it was contagious to others around us.
That is the point of the book. Great leaders move us by creating a resonance with others. Mayor Guiliani did not win widespread acclaim because he broadcast the financial impact of the September 11th disaster. He spoke to our hearts and our need to believe in each other and he struck a resonant chord in many all over the world. Each person's emotional intelligence feeds this resonance like banging on a drum louder and louder and setting off vibrations in other drums nearby. In the book we trace the neural circuitry that drives the actions known as emotional intelligence and their link to outstanding performance in many types of organizations.
Just as you begin to wonder if this is genetically determined, we offer evidence on years of longitudinal studies showing that people can develop these competencies. The process of improving one's emotional intelligence is described with stories of people who have done it- people who have sustained the improvements for seven years following beginning the process. Leaders can use these steps and their own emotional intelligence to create this resonance in teams and organizational cultures. The effect is that others get excited and do things they had not thought possible previously.
We hope you can join us in this excitement. We hope that the ideas and examples in the book create a resonance in you, the reader. Then you can lead others in discovering how people can use their collective talent to build effective and meaningful teams, organizations, and families. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Daniel Goleman is founder of Emotional Intelligence Services and works on leadership transformation with Hay/McBer of Boston. A psychologist who for many years reported on the brain and behavioral sciences for The New York Times, Dr. Goleman previously was a visiting faculty member at Harvard.
Richard E. Boyatzis is Professor of Organizational Behavior and Chair of Organizational Behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.
Annie McKee is CEO of a Philadelphia-based consulting firm specializing in developing global EI leadership programs. She also serves on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.
